New Tractor Company as if we didn't have enough

[Mtnryder]

@Slowpoke Slim, a few years back, I believed as you do - that the EV revolution is a myth and that the pollution just moves from one type to another. I still do but with less passion.

I started traveling to China in 2010. Frankly the air quality there sucked in all the major cities I visited. I was back in China in 2016, 2017, and 2018. I could not believe what the Chinese had accomplished in such a short time.

Leading the way was their development of EV. At the same time, they put the fixed pollution controls on their coal fired power plants. They restricted driving in the cities. In each of the later years, I actually saw the sun on a sunny day. Their pollution issues were significantly reduced.

While much of what you have written remains true - that our grid cannot support a complete change to EV, that we need new clean energy sources, that we need to solve the battery reclamation issues, my point to you is that there can be a huge change in the air quality to take the ICE out of the mainstream - especially in the big population centers. In rural locals, it makes little difference. In the population centers, I have witnessed the big change.

Keep an open mind. I am not convinced EV is the solution everywhere. I am convinced it has advantages and it has disadvantages.

Also keep in mind that the governments are pushing the electrification of vehicles. Manufacturers are being pressured to comply. I don't see what the governments get out of it but they are pushing. My daddy told me, "Son, follow the money if you want to know what is happening." Someone is getting money from all this.

I saw what the Chinese achieved in a short time. Could LA, NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, other big cities... do the same if they push for EV.

What about the rest of us? I'm not sure. I just know it is coming and it will not be stopped. CA. OR, WA they (the people) want it. The West coast often sets the agenda. A day will come when all that will be at the dealer will be EVs of some ilk. That day will be by the end of this decade if the plans of many manufactures come to fruition. Prediction is that by 2035, 50% of all vehicles on the highways will be EV. Could be BS. Might just be reality.

California buys half of their electricity from out of state because the warmer Greenies will not let them build new generating capacity. They are on the verge of brownouts every day, and they have no way to run their slot cars off the grid. Warmist wet dreams are no more realistic that making a living ranching unicorns.

 

[Tigercub]

I believe this has a lot less to do with pollution than it has to do with government control. Right now it is impossible to lock people down and keep them essentially imprisoned in their homes. They found this out with the recent scamdenic. If all the major population centers (cities) were 100% electric as is the goal there is little or nothing you could do to leave them or even survive a deep freeze with the power being off. In the hotter climates the suffering could be almost as bad with heat waves. Electric power can be controlled very selectively vs. municipal gas or individual oil deliveries and when the switch is thrown the power is off unlike a full tank of oil or propane...

Not if you own a wind/solar/battery self sufficient power system.....unless the government shuts off the sun

 

[ericm979]

Yehbut . . . W H Y ? Isn't it obvious that if EVERYthing in our lives ran on electricity, the grid will have to be beefed up considerably as well as the SOURCE for all those electrons? And in an all electric society,dependent upon wind ( which doesn't always blow ) and sun ( which doesn't always shine ), we'll hafta say goodbye to all heavy industry?

I don't think that the goal is a 100% petroleum fuel free economy. Not for a long time anyhow, and it would depend on tech that we don't have yet like cheap battery storage. But if we can get to 50% reasonably soon that's a big cut in emissions. Even more when a lot of that energy is coming from solar. Heavy industry may be one of the things that goes away from petroleum power.

We have to start now or we're going to change the climate too much and too fast to cope. We're already seeing the effects and its only the beginning of the changes that will come from what we've already put into the air. Dealing with massive fast climate change will be extremely distruptive and expensive. Far more expensive than the cost of moving to electric vehicles for a good part of the national fleet.

To get back to tractors, a battery CUT that can run for 10 hours and has the same HP and lift capacity as it's competition would work for a large number of folks here. I never run my tractor for 10 hours in a day and I don't think many people here need to. And remember that a battery tractor does not need to idle when you stop it. All I'd need to run an electric tractor would be a power outlet in the barn where I park it and that's not hard. When I run electricity out there I'll make sure it's sized to run a charger. I think it's 50/50 whether there'll be competitive battery CUTS within the next 20 years and after that I'll be too old to switch. Mostly because it's such a small market, not because it can't be done with current or easily developable future tech.

 

[sportscarclinic]

California buys half of their electricity from out of state because the warmer Greenies will not let them build new generating capacity. They are on the verge of brownouts every day, and they have no way to run their slot cars off the grid. Warmist wet dreams are no more realistic that making a living ranching unicorns.

Yeah, and someone once said that someday just plain old steam would be able to power freight trains and ocean liners. LOL What an idiot that guys was, huh.

 

[Fixastuff]

I like gas, I like turbos, I like diesel engines...but it won't hurt my feelings at all if I can buy an electric vehicle that performs as well, oh well!! I'm still the same person and life goes on. Some of y'all are really taking this personally, like you invented the ICE and electricity is giving you a backhand pimp slap. Lol

 

[Capngeo]

You start by firing the incompetent operator who ignored the battery fuel gauge. Same as you would do if ran out of diesel or gasoline. Incompetent for creating more work for others.

It’s more than firing an idiot.... if that were easy, there’d be no more politicians or news media...

I run a land clearing business; sometimes my machines will be on site (a site with zero infrastructure) for weeks. How do I charge them? Load them up and bring them back to town every night? Or maybe fire up a big diesel genny? The day I can’t buy diesel anymore is the day I retire.

The REAL problem is that the city people (who make all the rules) don’t have a clue what life is like outside their urban “oasis” (please note extreme sarcasm in using “oasis”) is really like. Electrical outlets are ubiquitous in the city.... in the middle of 100 acres being cleared, not so much.

(Scratching head) But then again if city life is so good, why are they all moving to Florida and buying overpriced lots carved out of nature (by me) to build look-a-like houses within feet of each other? Of course they will probably continue to vote as they did back home and turn Florida into just another liberal manure hole.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Yeah, and someone once said that someday just plain old steam would be able to power freight trains and ocean liners. LOL What an idiot that guys was, huh.

And we were all supposed to be driving around in flying cars by now too. Lots of "things" have been predicted to come in the future. Means nothing.

 

[Mtnryder]

Not if you own a wind/solar/battery self sufficient power system.....unless the government shuts off the sun

Batteries can't charge a car, and they never will. A battery is 12 volts and chargers require a minimum of 240 for slow charging and 480 for quick. Better you drill an oil well.

 

[PuffyC]

I run a land clearing business; sometimes my machines will be on site (a site with zero infrastructure) for weeks. How do I charge them? Load them up and bring them back to town every night? Or maybe fire up a big diesel genny?

You bring up a great scenario that will definitely be a tough one to solve. Just curious but how do you handle the constant fueling of multiple machines on a job like that today?

 

[bert the turtle]

Batteries can't charge a car, and they never will. A battery is 12 volts and chargers require a minimum of 240 for slow charging and 480 for quick. Better you drill an oil well.

Batteries are a collection of cells that operate at whatever voltage they are configured to operate. 12v lead-acid car batteries aren’t the only batteries in the world. Voltage and current can be traded off to meet power needs. For example, the 12v system in a gasoline-powered car runs 10,000v+ spark plugs. I can and do charge my car from my PV system without difficulty during sunny days and from my battery system at night or on cloudy days.

renewables, batteries, and electric vehicles have their limitations, for example, the scenario Capngeo lays out. A battery not being able to charge a car isn’t one of them.